Not so special

The European Union’s ten special representatives in the Balkans, the Caucasus and Africa have reasons to feel slightly less special.

As part of the EU’s budget negotiations, the British, Dutch and Swedish governments have been trying to reduce the EUSRs’ salaries, downgrading them from AD16 grade, with basic salaries starting at €16,919 per month, to the grade of AD14, with basic salaries starting at €13,216 per month.

The Czech and Estonian governments, supported by France and Portugal, fought back against what they decried as a purely budgetary approach to the EUSRs, stressing instead their foreign-policy value. The Danish government, as holder of the rotating presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers, with a role in the budget negotiations if not on foreign policy, has brokered a compromise under which the guidelines for EUSRs – and, in particular, their salary levels – will be reviewed before the end of the year.

So the debate has been postponed for a few months. Most of the EUSRs’ mandates expire on 30 June. Pierre Morel, who has been EUSR for central Asia since 2006, will retire at the end of the month, to be replaced by Patricia Flor. The rest are supposed to have their mandates renewed by member states’ foreign ministers on 25 June, but anything is possible.